There is a treasure each of us possesses in some quantity. It is a treasure we keep safe. One that might be bundled and tied with a ribbon. A special treasure that we might keep in a special box in a special drawer.
It is a rare treasure that we keep in it's original "wrapping" and never loses it's value though yellowed and faded. A treasure we all possess that is so dear, that often before we peruse it for the hundredth time, we press it to our hearts for a brief second, close our eyes and sigh.
The treasure common to us all is the legacy of letters.
It is a singularly unique treasure for it can send us back in time or encourage us in our future, feel arms around us from love ones long gone or invite new embraces to be discovered. It can pierce the heart in sudden pain or burst the heart in joy and pride.
The treasure can have many givers:
A parent's loveletter to their child, a lovers declaration to their matching soul,
a friends cry for help or a friend's lifesaving reply,
a son in a battlefield, a daughter homesick at college,
announcements of births, of deaths, of engagements, of divorce and back to births again making a mommy a grandma,
crayon drawings from grandchildren,
a schools acceptance or a publishers rejection, for even the harshest letters have formed who we are and marked decisions for our lives.
Givers of treasures can be anyone at all! The giver is half of the worth, the words on the page the rest.
Reflect with me, in your bundle of letters, which have meant something to you?
Who was the author?
How does it stir the heart to see the handwriting of someone dear?
Which of your treasures molded your person, your future?
Where do you keep them?
How often have you taken them out and re-read them?
Why do you cherish them?
May I suggest some reasons why we cherish these treasured letters?
"Letters are the doors by which the soul's intimacies walk through and present themselves." JDB
"Letters are not only snapshots of life and times but are the reflections of heart and mind. " JDB
"The pen is the tongue of the mind." Horace
"Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"More then kisses, letters mingle souls." John Donne
There is no substitution, despite all the technological advances, for the excitement of running to the mailbox to find a letter addressed to us and finding a quiet place to devour the contents. There is no greater stretching of the soul then to sit in a quiet place and compose a letter, putting pen to blank page.
"You cannot see the tear stains of joy or heartache on an email." (jdb)
Facebook, emails, tweeting , to me they are the readers digest condensed version of letter writing.They only leave one unsatisfied and yearning for more! They have their place as does cotton candy at the fair grounds. But both are momentary pleasures of empty nourishment. Imagine if all the letters the Apostle Paul wrote to the early saints were tweets! Corinthians..do the right thing! Hebrews: faith is powerful!
you get the idea! Imagine Thomas Jefferson on facebook: Hey thought of a great way to govern! If you agree then "like" this!
How sad! How unacceptable that this generation and the generation after, might, because of societies laziness and acceptance of that cotton candy correspondence, have no legacy of letters to treasure! No thick bundles of envelopes tied with ribbon.
How repulsive the idea is to me that we value family and friends so little that we do not give each other the gift of our time to take the hours if necessary to share our hearts and lives with them through treasures of letters. No special letters kept in a special box in a special drawer!
How empty without new letters to offer snapshots of life and times or reflections of heart and minds.
Nothing to press against their hearts for a brief moment, with their eyes closed and an offered sigh.
May I beg any reading this to write a letter!! Decide on a worthy recipient, then find a good pen, a flat surface, a sticky stamp and write them. " Fill your paper with the breathing's of your heart" William Wordsworth
I vow, in return to write any and all who will leave me their addresses in an email: Jbrad1960@gmail.com
For, if we don't continue the legacy of letters, no one will and the world will have lost a treasure without equal. Let us leave an inheritance more valuable then money or goods.. let us leave an inheritance of love that letters will verify and guard as truth!
Julianna
2 comments:
There is something very exciting about getting a real piece of mail and seeing your loved one's handwriting and know their hands touched it.
Bill's grandparents met and courted in 1915, and were married in 1916. It was love at first sight on a tour boat in Chicago. She lived in Chicago, he lived in Kansas City, so letters were all they had when they were apart. We have a record of their growing relationship and the language of the time. Aren't we lucky to have these treasures all these years later? You don't even need some long-lost technology to read them. :)
It disturbs me that they are thinking of discontinuing teaching cursive in the schools. Guess I'm old-fashioned.
no cursive? why dopnt they jsut go ahead adn teach acronyms instead of the english language too :( that is what IM talking about ! Treausres that cant be replaced!
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